Shared Parental Leave - Teachers

I’m a teacher and I although I can’t give you any advice about how it works I do know from a friend of mines experience that school can be a little bit funny if you’re using it just to get paid over the holidays. Know they’ve no right to buy some schools can be quite funny about it x

I used this company to help with forms… although now we’ve realised that we may be able to get more leave for my husband too so need to look at it again. A couple of colleagues also used them successfully https://www.teachersspl.co.uk/how-it-works

@Lauren ahh so I’ve missed this for the summer holidays but does this mean I potentially could get extra time off for my bf at say Christmas and Easter before I’m back to work in may? X

@Emma I don’t 100% understand it but I think that it’s best to start using it once you are only on statutory maternity pay (I.e not getting any extra from school) - otherwise you end up getting paid less each week. But yeah I think that he would be able to have the time off as long as between you you haven’t gone over the total amount of time off allowed…. As I say I’m definitely not an expert as still trying to work out whether we can get extra time off for my husband

@Lauren interesting! Like I said I’ve probably left it too late now as I’ve been off for 6 weeks now after having my little girl. I chose the. Option of spreading my maternity pay over the 9 months so I’m getting the same amount every month. After that 9 months the following I think it’s 2 months I’ll be on stat maternity pay. I’ll have to look into it- or shall I say I’ll get my bf too as he’s an accountant so much better with numbers than me 😂 hence why I teach geography x

@Emma how were you given that option of getting the same amount each month? I’m a teacher, due to start my mat leave 4th July, but just thought it was the standard process of going less and less

@Lauren I just asked. One of the girls I work with advised me to just ask my bursar. I can’t remember the name of what it’s called but I just asked could I spread my maternity over the time I’m off. Like I said, it only applies for 9 months, if you choose to take the year you go down to stay maternity pay x

Hey, everyone I paid the SPL company to do my forms - so if starting leave in September you would be entitled to feb, Easter and May halfterm as shared parental leave As u can only take shared parental leave when you are only getting statutory maternity pay - I created an excel document of the break down of my leave as wanted to get on top of it.

I'm not a teacher but me and my husband are planning on doing SPL but the forms are so confusing!! They don't make it easy 😂

@Nadia who is the SPL company? We're really struggling with forms ect so would help massively!

@Bobbie Wilson it’s the link lauren shared above x

@Nadia I am planning to do exactly this. Nice to find someone else In a similar position!

They work it out whens best for you. So when your smp kicks in is the best time. I used a website where you pay 55 pound abd they sort all the paperwork for you. Ive found it a massive help and have now got an extra 4 weeks more than what I thought. Xx

Im doing this. Taking traditional mat leave up to when my pay goes down to SMP then doing three blocks of leave to fit round Feb half term, Easter hols and May half term. The final block ends as summer hols start. In total I’m getting 10 extra weeks of full pay that I wouldn’t have had if (like with my first two maternity leaves) I hadn’t heard of doing this. Im not sharing any leave with my partner this time round as he hasn’t been in his job long enough to be eligible. I didn’t pay the £55 to use the teachers SPL website as with a bit of time and patience I worked it all out myself. The govt website has a planner which is quite handy where you put your dates in for trad mat leave then your SPL weeks and it works it all out for you in terms of pay and entitlement.

@Hayley I didn't have the patience or brain power after teaching all day hahha. I thought it was well worth it with all the information I got and they have completed all my paperwork too. Saved me a massive job. Especially in this heat I struggle to think or anything nevermind fhe minefield of spl hahaha 😂 xx

Me and my partner are both teachers, and doing shared leave. I’m doing 16 weeks, then my partner is doing 16 weeks. Someone has mentioned something about getting paid for the holidays, but I need to find out more!

@Katie ill be getting paid for the holidays. My partner is self employed so he can't get it. But with the spl I've done it does say about you both getting it. I'm not sure how that side of it works but definitely worth looking into for more money/time with baby on maternity xx

So I’m doing this. I went off after Feb half term. Am on maternity leave until the last day of the summer term. Go ‘back to work’ for the summer holidays, then have my first stint of SPL from beg of sept until Oct half term, ‘back to work’ for Oct HT, second stint of SPL from Oct HT until Christmas hols, then back to work for the hols and go back in Jan, because I ‘return’ for the holidays there is 16 weeks leave left that can be taken before the year is up. So my husband is having those off. He will be off with me for last week of Oct, Nov and Dec. Then he will be off with our little girl until the feb HT when she will start nursery. You can take up to 3 separate stints of leave, just make sure you fill out a separate form for each one that way they cannot decline it.

@Lauren absolutely, I can fully relate to that. I spent an hour or two in the Easter hols working it all out- it was a lot cooler then! Couldn’t do all this now 🥵 I’m honestly at breaking point with work atm, not just with the heat but the stress of exam season. I have absolutely hated my job since going back after half term and have had no time to get even basic stuff done as my few precious frees keep getting used up for pointless meetings 😩

@Hayley Im working through reports at the min I'm exhausted the heat is making everything hard at the min. Not long till summer 😂

@Lauren oh no 😣 I don’t miss reports! (HT got rid of them a few years ago at our school)

@Hayley primary/secondary? I'm jealous!

@Lauren snap!!!!!!

@Lauren secondary, we still do data and parents evenings but not written reports

@Hayley we do all 3 and I have two lots of data because I'm early years 😂🙈 it will be summer before we know it xx